Alemite Mfg. Corporation v. Rogers Products Co.

• Decision Date: 25 March 1930
• Docket Number: No. 4058.,4058.
• Citation: 42 F.2d 648
• Parties: ALEMITE MFG. CORPORATION et al. v. ROGERS PRODUCTS CO., Inc.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — Third Circuit

42 F.2d 648 (1930)

ALEMITE MFG. CORPORATION et al. v. ROGERS PRODUCTS CO., Inc.

No. 4058.

Circuit Court of Appeals, Third Circuit.

January 23, 1930.

Petition for Rehearing Withdrawn March 25, 1930.

Williams, Bradbury, McCaleb & Hinkle, of Chicago, Ill., and Fish, Richardson & Neave, of Boston, Mass. (Lynn A. Williams, of Chicago, Ill., Stephen H. Philbin, of New York City, and Benjamin F. Wupper, of Chicago, Ill., of counsel), for appellants.

Dean, Fairbank, Obrieght & Hirsch, of New York City (Clair W. Fairbank and George C. Dean, both of New York City, of counsel), for appellee.

Before BUFFINGTON, Circuit Judge, and THOMSON and AVIS, District Judges.

THOMSON, District Judge.

This case involves the question of validity and infringement of claim 2 of patent No. 1,377,023, of Bernard S. Nelson, for which a patent issued May 3, 1921. The invention relates to lubricating devices, and more especially to that class of articles known in the trade as "grease guns," which are used for the purpose of quickly and easily supplying a regulated quantity of lubricant to parts of automobiles and other mechanism receiving periodic lubrication. The object of the invention was to provide a device of the character described, which was well balanced, easily handled and manipulated, readily assembled and taken apart for inspection, avoiding the waste of lubricant while in use and the cost of manufacture reduced to a minimum.

Claim 2, the only one in suit, is as follows:

"A lubricating device comprising a cylinder having a bore and inlet port and a discharge passage, a plunger reciprocating within said bore, a lubricant receptacle attached to and depending from said cylinder and having its interior communicating with said bore through said inlet port, a spring actuated piston within said receptacle for feeding the lubricant within the receptacle through said inlet port into said bore of the cylinder, means for locking said piston against movement in the said receptacle, and means connected to said plunger and cylinder for reciprocating said plunger within the bore to withdraw the lubricant from said receptacle into said bore and eject the lubricant from the bore through the discharge passage."

The defendant company denied validity by reason of anticipation and also denied infringement. After hearing, the court below dismissed the bill, and from the decree so entered this appeal is taken.

Confessedly, all the elements entering into this device are old and well-known, but it is claimed by the plaintiff that in combination they form a new and useful invention.

Prior to 1918, one Gullborg invented, and through the Alemite Die-Casting Company, put upon the market, what is known as the Alemite system of automobile lubrication, which rapidly displaced all other methods and was very generally installed as factory equipment. Gullborg's invention was covered by patent. The Alemite system, as made in 1918, and largely as made and sold at the present time, comprises a grease gun — a receptacle from which grease may be discharged under pressure — a conduit and coupling attached to the grease gun, and certain lubrication receiving fittings. This device was sold in great quantities, and at the time of the application for a patent by Nelson, in 1920, was the standard equipment on several makes of cars. Under this Alemite system, automobile owners largely lubricated their own machines, and this screw type device served the purpose well, as it could develop pressure in the neighborhood of from 500 to 650 pounds per square inch. That device was so far superior to the former methods of lubrication (grease cups, which had to be filled with finger or ladle, that it immediately displaced them.

Experience, however, showed that certain bearings of an automobile would, after a time, become caked or frozen, which was the result of the packing of dirt and grit in the bearings. The pressure developed by the ordinary screw type compressor was found not sufficient to remove this caked material, and this required the bearing to be taken completely apart and cleaned with gasoline or other means. It was an important problem how to dislodge this caked lubricant, which had become frozen. Different methods were employed, but without much success.

In 1921, one Shere invented a grease gun, which was so constructed that an extremely high pressure, necessary to dislodge the caked material in tight or frozen bearings, could be obtained. His idea was brought to the attention of the Harshaw Corporation, a patent holding company, under whose patents the Gat Gun Lubricating Corporation held an exclusive license. During the prosecution of the application for a patent filed by Shere, the Patent Office cited the Nelson patent as a reference, and it was found that this patent anticipated and claimed the essential features...